


if you're too shy (let me know)

by babyiknow



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:01:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27515755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/babyiknow/pseuds/babyiknow
Summary: Dani’s never been an overtly sexual person.Before, with Eddie, there’d always be an excuse- a reason not to, whether it be a headache, her period, or Jesus.  She’d always blink her eyes, wide and apologetic, and allow a bit of heavy petting before settling in under the covers for a couple chapters of Madame Bovary.With Jamie, it’s, well, it’s different, to say the least.
Relationships: Dani Clayton/Jamie
Comments: 33
Kudos: 382





	1. home with you

Dani’s never been an overtly sexual person. 

Before, with Eddie, there’d always be an excuse- a reason not to, whether it be a headache, her period, or  _ Jesus.  _ She’d always blink her eyes, wide and apologetic, and allow a bit of heavy petting before settling in under the covers for a couple chapters of  _ Madame Bovary.  _

With Jamie, it’s, well, it’s  _ different,  _ to say the least. 

Their first time is frantic, wild, and Dani’s first orgasm crests with shaky hands, and quite possibly the loudest noises she’s ever heard her own voice make, Jamie’s hot lips resting over her own to quiet her. 

“Oh my- oh my god.” She breathes, her chest heaving and flushed down, hands grasping Jamie’s shoulders in order to keep her close, their sweaty bodies pressed deliciously parallel. 

“All right?” Jamie questions, a slightly awed smirk gracing those delicate lips, and Dani huffs a chuckle, before pulling the brunette down to kiss her. 

“Are you kidding?” Dani mumbles against her mouth, and Jamie gasps quietly when the blonde’s teeth drag across her bottom lip. 

“Dani…” She murmurs, and Dani smiles coyly, flipping the smaller girl onto her back, so that she can hover over her. “Please…”

“Please,  _ what?”  _ And,  _ god,  _ what Dani lacks in experience, she more than makes up for in enthusiasm, her curious hands darting along the brunette’s petite frame, finding new ways to make Jamie gasp and cant her hips upwards in search of friction. 

_ “Touch me,  _ Dani,  _ oh,  _ please!” Jamie’s cheeks flush, never before has anyone made her act like such a  _ girl,  _ never coaxed breathy, pitchy moans like this out of her, never made her squirm and press her thighs together like some needy teenager. 

_ “Show me,”  _ Dani’s lips brush against the swell of Jamie’s cheek, her hot breath tickling the shell of her ear. Jamie moans at this, and her sweaty palm scrambles in search of Dani’s, guiding the blonde’s fingers down her stomach. 

The light touch sends shivers across Jamie’s skin, and she tips her head back when Dani’s fingers finally,  _ finally  _ reach her center, and they gasp at the same time. 

“You, you’re so-” Jamie moans, interrupting her, shoving her hips down into the blonde’s hand, all notions of guiding her forgotten as she writhes against the fingers. 

Dani spreads her open, seemingly content with blazing her own path, and she brushes the pad of her thumb lightly over Jamie’s clit, causing the smaller woman to shudder, and clamp a hand over her mouth. 

Jamie’s eyes snap open at the feeling of lips moving down, catching a glimpse of Dani’s messy locks dragging lower, lower, until- 

Blue eyes meet her own, dark and wide and  _ hungry,  _ dropping down intermittently to stare at Jamie’s dripping heat. 

“Can I- can I?” Dani licks her lips, and Jamie’s sent, she’s gone, she’s nodding her consent- 

“Yes,  _ yes, please!”  _ Jamie’s moan is high, tense, when Dani’s tongue touches her for the first time, a surprised exclamation, and her hands fly directly to those fluffy curls. 

_ “Ohmygod,”  _ She breathes, and her forehead wrinkles with concentration as she tries to quiet herself, when a solution presents itself- a hand, and then- a thumb, pressing lightly against her lips, and Jamie’s sucking it in, shuddering at the moan Dani releases against her center. 

Jamie’s noises are growing increasingly desperate, her hips shoving down jaggedly, roughly, trying to find the right angle, and she needs- 

_ “More,”  _ She pleads, and Dani presses a kiss, open-mouthed and hot against her, before positioning a finger in front of her entrance, and  _ Jesus.  _

_ “Oh!”  _ Jamie cries, Dani’s thumb falling from her lips, and one is all it takes, a few quick, rough presses against her front wall, to have her moaning, loud and long, her abdomen clenching and spasming. Dani’s mouth and fingers work tirelessly still, riding her through her climax, until her hips jerk a bit too sensitively, and Jamie has to tug weakly at Dani’s hair to get her to let up. 

It takes a second, a minute, really for words to return, and Jamie watches foggily as Dani smiles, and licks her lips, wiping her fingers on the bedsheet next to her, and  _ god, she’s gonna kill her.  _

“Are you sure,” her voice is scratchy, tired, “that that was your first time, Poppins?” Dani grins proudly, and settles in beside her, a soft hand resting in the valley between her breasts, moving up and down with Jamie’s staggered breath. 

“I mean, I can’t say I’ve ever had…  _ sex,”  _ her voice lowers, as if to preserve her modesty, as if she wasn’t laying naked beside the woman she just screwed silly. “But I’ve,  _ you know,  _ done  _ stuff  _ before, if you know what I mean. Never  _ that _ good, though.” She smiles into Jamie’s hair, and Jamie looks up at her, at those wide, blue eyes, less innocent than she thought, raking over the brunette’s spent body. 

“Well, if it means anything to you, I’ve done  _ stuff  _ as well, but never as good as you, either.” Dani blushes, and Jamie turns the blonde’s head to look her in the eyes. “Seriously, that was  _ cosmic,  _ Poppins.” 

“Yeah, I think so too.” 


	2. lights on

Their next time isn’t until days later, the children deciding to become  _ handfuls  _ during the week, and Dani’s about ready to pull her hair out in frustration. Flora’s crying, on the floor, and Miles is making his case quickly and angrily,  _ she said this, and he did that, and-  _

“Enough!” Dani exclaims, slicing a hand through the air like a knife. Miles stops talking, and Flora’s cries quiet to sniffles. 

“I don’t- We’ll talk about it tomorrow.” They protest, but she shushes them with a look, and they nod solemnly. 

After tucking them both in, a hug and a story thrown in, because it’s been a hard week for them, as well, she realizes, she closes the door to Flora’s room behind her. 

Dani rakes her hands through her hair, the blowout she’d fluffed into it now completely flat, and huffs a breath through her lips. She’s a wreck, has been all day, and she knows she must look it, no makeup and the baggy sweater she’d thrown on this morning when she’d woken to Flora’s indignant cries and Miles’ bickering denials. 

“Whew, Poppins. Tough day?” Dani freezes, opening her eyes, and lowers her hands from where they’re massaging her temples. Turning, she sees her, and relief rushes through her despite her consequent embarrassment over her appearance. 

“Is it that obvious?” Dani sighs, voice a mixture of helpless frustration and an attempt at humor. 

“No, I mean, you look great,” Dani scoffs, and Jamie touches her elbow. “Poppins. You’re a vision. Seriously. You just seem…  _ stressed.”  _ And there’s something in the way she says it, in the way her voice lilts in suggestion, as if she knows the cure, as if she’s dipping her toes in a cold pool, before jumping in. 

“Yeah, I’ve been…  _ frustrated.”  _ Dani replies, and her shoulders tense, still slightly occupied by the events of the past few days. Jamie moves closer, and Dani meets her with a step forward. The brunette’s eyes darken noticeably, their knees slotting together. 

“Frustrated, huh?” And Dani is far too tightly wound, far too exhausted, far too wired to keep up the banter, and she crashes her lips against Jamie’s, who makes a surprised noise against her mouth. 

The shorter woman wraps her arms around Dani’s neck, and pulls back slightly. 

“Jesus, Dani, you’re tense. What’s wrong?” Dani shakes her head, desperately pressing herself back into Jamie. 

“I’ll tell you, I promise, just- let me- help me-” She works her fingers under Jamie’s ratty band tee, and Jamie takes the hint, guiding their hasty path to the au pair’s bedroom, and they fall into the bed, slamming the door behind them. 

“Lay back,” Jamie breathes, breaking away from their kiss, lips swollen and flushed. Dani’s chest rises and falls rapidly, but she does as she’s told, and Jamie nods. “Now, on your stomach.” A thrill rises in Dani’s belly, a quick jump, and she flips, Jamie’s hips lowering over her own almost immediately. 

“Arms up.” She lifts Dani’s jumper over her head, and unclasps her bra soon after. “Better?” And Dani can just sigh, and nod, at the whispers of Jamie’s touch on her bare skin. 

But soon they press, and it’s heaven, it hurts, but it’s heaven, the gardener’s long, skilled fingers working the knots out of her shoulders, her spine. 

“Oh my god,” Dani squeaks, her voice muffled by the pillow, and a spike of pleasure jolts low in her belly when Jamie’s fingers smooth over the juncture where her shoulder meets her neck. 

“Good?” Jamie asks, and Dani moans her assent, the tension ebbing away from her shoulders with every press of skin on skin. 

Jamie finishes her massage when Dani’s shoulders are finally relaxed, when the knots are unraveled, and when Dani flips back over, it’s like her joints are liquid, her brain and body equally blissed out under Jamie’s hands. 

“That was… you’re good at that,” She murmurs, sliding her nose along the bridge of Jamie’s own. 

“Yeah?” Jamie smiles sweetly, stroking Dani’s cheekbone with her thumb. “I’m glad I could help you feel good.” And Dani  _ melts,  _ like chocolate in Jamie’s hands. She pulls the brunette into a soft kiss, laying the woman down gently on top of her. 

“You always make me feel good.” And this all feels a little too good, a little too soft, too special, something that neither Jamie nor Dani thought they’d get in their lifetimes. 

Jamie kisses her, then, delicate, and Dani pulls her down fully, their bodies molding together, warm and responding to the other’s movements. 

They move almost synchronously, shedding their clothes with gentle, cradling hands, and Jamie moves to kiss a path down Dani’s stomach, but the blonde pulls her back up, rubbing their cheeks together, and Jamie understands, he need for closeness, her need for Jamie’s breath against her, her lips against her own. 

“I know, baby, I’m here,” She murmurs, and Dani moans, opening her legs like a prayer, like a promise, like Jamie’s just said the magic words. 

She presses her fingers- two, between Dani’s legs, guiding them in with little resistance, and Dani’s eyes open, looking deeply into Jamie’s as she moans, and Jamie falls with her,  _ feels  _ with her. 

Jamie pushes in slow and long, dragging and curling her fingers to ease every drop of pleasure from the blonde, whose eyes seem a dark, liquid blue, eyelids heavy with desire, and Jamie knows there’s nothing as good as this, nothing as  _ holy,  _ nothing as sacred as her hand reaching the deepest parts of this hallowed woman. 

Dani’s hips roll languidly, meeting her thrusts, and Jamie wants to- needs to be closer, and she adds another finger, to which Dani keens, and Jamie swipes her thumb rough and slow over Dani’s clit, once, twice, and Dani is melting into her climax, deep, rolling shudders wracking her body, arms and legs becoming loose and heavy, and her gaze holds Jamie’s though it. 

“Jamie,” She breathes, once the waves have resided, and Jamie rests her chin atop her folded hands over Dani’s chest. 

Jamie smiles softly, and Dani flips her over, slowly, and Jamie’s never been touched this delicately in her life, never been held like she’s something worth protecting, like she’s something worth  _ anything.  _

_ “Precious,”  _ Dani purrs, pressing her lips across Jamie’s collarbone, moving down to her breasts, her ribs, her hips. Dani’s lips reach her ankles, and she looks up, Jamie’s chest rising and falling smoothly, a blissful smile on her face, and she moves back up, resuming her path of kisses, eventually reaching her lips. 

“Beautiful.” She whispers, and Jamie moans, making Dani smile against her lips. “Lovely. Gorgeous. Charming.” She punctuates each word with a kiss, and Jamie smiles into their kiss, her eyebrows stitching together in a moan when Dani’s hand presses softly into her. 

She fucks her like she’s treasure, like she’s priceless, invaluable, like Dani’s revelling in her body. Dani makes love to her slowly, sweetly, and hot tears gather in the corners of her eyes with every thrust. 

“Stunning. Beguiling.” The brunette comes with a jerk of her hips, and Dani’s kissing the skin of her jaw, whispering  _ precious  _ one last time in her ear before Jamie’s hips twitch away from her hand, overstimulated. 

Tears leak out of Jamie’s eyes in salty tracks, and Dani settles in next to her, gathering the smaller girl in her arms. 

“Oh,  _ baby.”  _ She kisses Jamie’s temple, and drags a thumb lightly under the brunette’s eyes. 

Jamie lays speechless, her face pressed against Dani’s chest, while the blonde peppers gentle kisses across her skin. 

When she finally feels ready to speak, her voice is low with an emotion that Dani hasn’t heard since the night that the brunette dragged her out in the cold to see the magical, blooming flower. 

“Poppins. Thank you.” She’d like to go further, to whisper the three words bouncing around her head, but waits instead, until the blonde is ready to hear them. 


	3. shock you like you won't believe

Hannah is a modest woman. 

Even with her husband, she’d never gotten into anything too crazy, their love consummated with more of a tender, quiet love, that sufficed for the both of them (until it didn’t). She’s a modest woman, yes, but not naive. 

She’s woken up for a second time this week by the noises, and she rolls her sleep-heavy eyes. It’s Dani, this time, the louder of the two, and despite Hannah’s happiness for the girls, (so damaged, so hurt) that they had found and nursed their love into being, she’d just about had enough of  _ this.  _

The first few times, she’d kept quiet about it, glancing at the women across the breakfast table, giggling and reaching over each other for various dishes, and it warmed her heart, to see their shells both so wonderfully broken. 

“Those two, huh?” Owen nudges her arm, the morning of the third time she’s lost sleep due to the pair. 

“Don’t remind me.” Hannah gripes, and Owen looks to her with surprise. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I’m happy for them, I am, but  _ God  _ do they go at it like  _ rabbits  _ at night.” Owen’s eyes widen, a little blush rising to his cheeks that Hannah would usually find adorable, if it weren’t for her exhaustion. 

“Wha- I don’t- how do you know?” Hannah sips her tea, the perfect type of brew- warm, not too sweet, just how she likes it. She looks him in the eyes, narrowing her own for good measure. 

“How could I not? It’s like the walls are made of paper! Except, no, the walls are fine, they’re just  _ that loud.”  _ Owen chuckles, leaning into her conspiratorially, and she rests her head against his shoulder momentarily. 

“Well, I’m just glad that they finally got together. They were both so…  _ tense.”  _ He smirks, his mustache wiggling with the quirk of his lips. 

“Oi! Lovebirds! Stop flirting, it’s breakfast time!” Jamie’s voice calls from the table, and Hannah raises an eyebrow. 

“I’m surprised you’re still hungry, Jamie.” She mutters, and, no, Hannah’s never been known for her humor, but she smirks at Owen’s snort when he slides in beside her at the table. The children, bless their hearts, babble on to each other, not registering the double entendre. 

“What was that, Han’?” Jamie asks, absently pouring maple syrup on her waffles. 

“I was just curious as to how you’re still hungry, given how much you  _ ate  _ last night?” Jamie chokes, and it’s almost comical how quickly the au pair’s eyes snap to her, wide and  _ scared,  _ bless her, but Hannah’s having too much fun. 

“And you, Dani, you should drink your tea before it gets too cold, I wouldn’t want your throat to hurt.” The two women stare, open mouthed at her, and Owen excuses himself to brew another pot of tea. 

“Hannah-” the gardener warns, her nervous eyes glancing at Dani, who sits, mortified, staring at her plate. 

“Just- next time, spend the night at Jamie’s, girls. Okay?” Jamie nods, and Dani opens and shuts her mouth in disbelief. 

Breakfast ends quickly after that, and Dani rushes off to dress the children before Jamie can get a word in. The brunette drops her shoulders, resigned to do her gardening in silent embarrassment until her girlfriend finds the words to address what just happens. 

“I’m happy for you, James,” Hannah calls, from her corner of the kitchen, and Owen gives her a thumbs up, to which she glares down. 

“Yeah, maybe next time think twice about publicly shaming the recently out lesbian, you lot.” She gibes, and heads out the door, her dirt-crusted boots thudding on the ancient floors. 

Night falls, quicker than Dani’d like, and she puts the children to bed without much fuss from either of them, after a day packed with lessons, as well as a trip out to the gardens, in which she steadfastly ignored Jamie’s eyes, a ruddy flush appearing on her cheeks every time she glanced at the brunette. 

She makes her way to the bedroom, gathering the courage to face the gardener, lips set in a thin line, but-

Her room is dark, empty, the sheets still twisted in the way the two’d left them this morning, and she glances in the bathroom, just to check. 

“Jamie?” She calls, and there’s no response, just the clicking of quiet crickets outside her window. 

Dani wanders to the kitchen, the house dark save for the moonlight in the windows, and she follows it to the door, finally spotting her girlfriend, idling outside of her truck, placing a few tools in the backseat. 

“Jamie?” She ponders aloud, and her socked feet take the path to the brunette immediately, the chill of the night wind tickling her calves, underneath her nightgown. 

“Poppins, I-” The gardener looks at her fully. “God, Dani, you’re set to catch a cold, out here in this!” She rubs up and down Dani’s bare arms, and Dani shivers at the feeling of Jamie’s soft, warm hands on her skin. 

“Well, you weren’t in the bedroom, and, I mean, not to assume anything, but you’ve stayed the past week, and-” She huffs. “And I mean, yeah, you probably want some time alone- not that I want time alone! But I get it, I can be a handful, and what Hannah said today, I know I’m loud, and I know you like to keep things discreet, and, I’m sorry-” 

“Woah, woah, Poppins, take a breath!” Dani breathes in once, letting it out slowly, and Jamie smiles a bit at the au pair’s fiddling hands. “Come on, let’s get you inside.” 

Jamie guides Dani back to her bedroom, shedding her jacket and boots at the door, at which Dani sighs, relieved. 

“Dani.” She starts, once the blonde is settled under the sheets, and Dani looks up, like she’s steeling herself for bad news. “We’ve been having...  _ fun,”  _ Jamie’s stomach heats up at the memories of said  _ fun,  _ but she ignores the feeling in order to continue. “And, I mean, obviously I’ve enjoyed it too. But, we’ve been having, like, a  _ lot  _ of fun.” Dani nods slowly, and Jamie wants to kiss the confused little twist of her lips right off her face. 

“What I’m saying, is,  _ maybe,  _ we should slow it down a bit? Just to give ourselves a chance to breathe.” Dani nods, now, a sad pout gracing her mouth. 

“Will you-I mean, you’ll still stay, right?” She smooths a hand over the sheets next to her, almost absentmindedly. 

“Dani, of course. We’re still together, hm? Just taking a moment to breathe.” She assures, and climbs into bed beside the blonde, once she’s changed into pajamas. 

A beat passes, and Jamie fiddles with the corner of her nightshirt, watching the au pair read silently. 

“Well,” Dani looks up at her, suddenly, imploringly. “I can breathe just fine, you know.” She bites her lip, eyes wide and innocent, and it lights something deep and hot in Jamie’s belly. And in that moment, she makes a decision. 

“Yeah, you know what? Me too.” She crosses the distance, crashing their lips together, a nimble hand tangling in soft blonde locks, and Dani moans, before Jamie pulls back. 

_ “Quiet.”  _ And Dani nods, her hands furiously working at the buttons of Jamie’s pajama top, rucking up her own nightgown. 

Jamie connects their lips again, wiggling her hips to free herself of her shorts, and her mouth waters at the sight of Dani’s bare stomach, exposed by the blonde’s desperate hands. 

She traces a hand down to the waistline of Dani’s underwear, high waisted and pink, the type she’d never have thought to be sexy until Dani, but now sets her chest on fire. 

Dani moans again, and Jamie pulls back, a soft,  _ dirty  _ expression on her face. 

“Poppins. Quiet.” She has an idea, reaching around the bed frame to grab a discarded cami, bunching the fabric up in her palm. “Bite.” She commands, and Dani accepts it, moaning around the material, the noise significantly muffled. 

“Good enough,” Jamie figures, and snakes her hand into Dani’s undergarments. The blonde rolls her hips into the movement, and forms a strangled noise in the back of her throat when Jamie finally presses into her. 

Dani’s hands scramble across Jamie’s skin, grabbing and cupping her through her open top, and Jamie tips her head back in a keening moan when Dani’s own fingers slip inside her, deep and stretching, at this angle. 

A hand grasps over her mouth, effectively quieting her, and they rock into each other, roughly, before their muffled noises become desperate, frenzied, and Dani’s brow is crinkling, and Jamie is collapsing down over her, and they ride out their respective climaxes in silent awe, their heaving chests pressed together, sticky with sweat. 

Dani kisses her deeply, after she releases the fabric from her teeth, after Jamie’s rolled off her, cuddling into her side. 

“Jamie, that was…” Jamie stays silent, preferring to hear whatever Dani’s curious mind supplies, without prompting. “That was  _ hot.”  _

Jamie laughs, and kisses Dani’s brow. 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah. I liked.... I liked it when we,  _ you know,  _ together.” And Jamie raises her eyebrows in surprise. Dani doesn’t often voice her preferences, a habit born out of years of suppression, one that Jamie is working tirelessly to break. She loves it when Dani will tell her, quietly, shyly, after they’re sleepy and sated, what she liked, what she loved, what made her feel good. 

“Well, we’ll have to do it more often, then, won’t we?” And Dani nods, grinning into the crook right above Jamie’s armpit, muffling her delighted giggle. 

“Next time, at your place.” Jamie raises an eyebrow. “I also like to hear you.” Dani explains, and Jamie’s face heats up, her stomach going white-hot despite her recent climax. 

“God, Poppins, you can’t just  _ say  _ that shit.” 

The next morning, they sleep in, deciding to skip the whole breakfast ordeal, and Hannah chuckles. 

“At least they learned their lesson.” She mutters to Owen, who smiles and holds up a spoon of batter for her to taste. 

“Yes, but they really shouldn’t miss breakfast. I can go get them, see if they’re up?” Owen suggests, and Hannah nods easily, watching the object of her affections bound up the stairs happily. 

Owen raises his fist to knock on the door, but he stops when a muffled cry sounds through the heavy wood. He presses his ear briefly to the surface, worried that Dani may have fallen, or hurt herself- or

_ “Oh right there- don’t stop!”  _ Owen starts, turning away, and it echoes behind him,  _ “Oh, you’re so fucking good!”  _ He bustles down the hall, eyes wide and mortified, taking the steps downstairs two at a time. 

Hannah understands his expression as soon as he enters the kitchen. 

“Seriously? At-” She checks her watch. “At eight thirty in the morning?” Owen shakes his head, pressing his hands to his ears, as if trying to purge the mental image. 

“I mean, like you said, at least they’re not so tense.” Hannah pokes, and Owen glares at the woman. 

“I take it back. I prefer _ tense _ to- to-” 

“To rabbits?” 

“To rabbits.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Hey this could be an ongoing fic if you like.... just comment all of your ideas and I could flesh them out!!


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